…but defends his impeachment acquittal vote
By NY Daily News
Trump’s actions and inaction a “disgraceful dereliction of duty.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell has never sounded so much like a Democrat — until he found a way to wriggle out of convicting ex-President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial, reports New York Daily News.
In a remarkable speech on the Senate floor, the powerful GOP minority leader condemned Trump for “provoking” the violent attack on the Capitol last month after he lost his bid for a second term in the White House.
“There is no question that Trump is morally and practically responsible for what happened on January 6,″ McConnell said, calling Trump’s actions and inaction a “disgraceful dereliction of duty.”
McConnell derided Trump for failing to act to quell the siege even as armed rioters unleashed chaos in his name inside the citadel of American democracy.
“He watched happily on television as the chaos unfolded,” McConnell said.
The Kentucky senator offered a highly-technical argument for his acquittal vote, claiming that it was unconstitutional to impeach a former president and that Trump’s speech may not have met the technical legal definition of incitement.
Given the relatively wide 57-43 margin in favor of conviction, McConnell’s decision to vote for acquittal very likely prevented Trump from being convicted.
McConnell holds significant sway over a large bloc of establishment conservative senators and his announcement early Saturday that he would vote to acquit effectively sealed the deal for many of his GOP colleagues.
McConnell even had the chutzpah to put the burden on others to hold Trump accountable.
The Republican leader said it was up to prosecutors to press civil or perhaps even criminal cases against Trump.
“He hasn’t been cleared of any of his actions as president, yet,” McConnell said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi trashed McConnell for what she called a hypocritical decision to denounce Trump without voting to convict him.
“For Mitch McConnell to say all the things about Donald Trump and how horrible he is…and to vote to acquit him,” Pelosi said, “it was just an excuse he used.”
